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Holy Artifacts
Great acts, miracles, and incredible sacrifice have an effect on not just people, but sometimes things and even places. Relics and Holy Artifacts are born out of the power of faith through close association with moments of inspiration or by being carried in the hands of the truly Faithful. Holy Artifacts are rare, one of a kind, and cannot be created. They must happen spontaneously. • A place or object can become a Holy Artifact either as for the result or cause the manifestation of True Faith. A cliff edge where a suffering manfirst realized the grander scope and saw the light may be an Artifact as easily as the sword he later used to slay a hundred demons. • Holy Artifacts have ratings of True Faith all on their own from 1 to 5. Holding the item or utilizing its space (in the case of a location) can grant someone those dots in True Faith, so long as they are working toward the light and not violating their Conscience and Humanity. Faithful using a Holy Artifact add the Artifact’s dots of True Faith to their own. This can theoretically raise a character’s effective True Faith above five, to a maximum of ten dots. • Wielding a Holy Artifact successfully can be a valid reason to purchase True Faith. It is a drastic, life-altering experience. • A Holy Artifact has certain miracles attached to it, historical or mythological. This influences any miracles that might happen to or around its wielder in the future. Some examples of Holy Artifacts: • The Finger Bone of Sofia Even as a young child, Sofia saw things other people couldn’t. Men in wolf skin, creatures with cloven hooves, monsters who lusted for blood: All were revealed to Sofia. As Sofia grew older, her face lined with the perpetual fear she felt, a demon began to visit her nightly. It lurked at the foot of her bed and whispered foul blasphemies that it wished to visit upon Sofia. Her only comforts were the visits from an angel who likewise visited during the dark hours, standing at the head of the bed and educating Sofia in the demon’s weaknesses. Sofia never realized that both demon and angel were the same vampire who was slowly falling to the Beast, and had latched on to Sofia as anchor for his Humanity. When the creature finally lost its battle and attacked the now elderly woman, Sofia was ready: She destroyed it with fire and silver, even as the raging inferno consumed her too. Miracle: Placing Sofia’s finger bone under your pillow (or in your coffin) as you sleep grants knowledge of one weakness of your enemy. This enemy must be on a Road other than Humanity or Heaven, or have a rating of less than six dots in the aforementioned. Aspects: Seeking the truth in all things Rating: To know your enemy’s failings is invaluable in the Jyhad, but it’s also something that can be done through careful spying or use of Auspex. As such, the finger bone is a handy shortcut but no more than that. • The Wedding Band of Raquel the Martyr Raquel is a little-known local saint in a small region of Brittany. Her stories were scattered, and the monsters she fought purposefully destroyed any documents with an accounting of her. This often happens with the Faithful. The story goes that she was married, but a pagan king wanted her, so he demanded she break her vows and marry him. In reality, the “pagan king” was a vampire prince. She resisted him and through the power of her Faith, razed the region’s vampire population to dust. She was martyred later, accused of witchcraft. When she was burned, her wedding band, a simple thing made of wood, did not burn, and would not burn. They say she herself did not burn until after she made an impassioned speech and “allowed the flames to take her.” To this day, they say wearing the ring makes you immune to fire. •• The Water of Meriba The water of Meriba provided salvation to the parched Hebrews out of Egypt, but damnation for Mozes himself. Mozes’ hubris corrupted the miracle of Meriba in the eyes of the mortal church, but a brisk trade for it still exists amongst Cainites. Mozes, after all, is akin to Caine: cursed by God to never find his way home, even if Mozes was allowed the mercy of death. Most of the bottles of “Meriba water” are fake, but ever so rarely a true droplet of Meriba finds its way to the market. Miracle: The water of Meriba quenches all thirst, even that of Cainites. The water provides no actual sustenance, but the Cainite no longer feels hunger for purposes of determining Frenzy. The water and its benefits vanishes from the Cainite’s system when she next rises. Aspects: Providing for Others, Self-Sacrifice Rating: This miracle provides relief, but it is not permanent. Nor can the item be used again. ••• The Hand of Nikolas Nikolas was a Nosferatu who, despite suffering both in life and after, never lost faith in the kindness of people. His inner peace was such that he inspired other Cainites to seek harmony too, and a small sect formed around the humble Cainite. Nikolas preached to his kin about the calm of the world for 33 years, until a Cainite inquisitor caught up with him. The inquisitor found Nikolas guilty of heresy and swiftly condemned him to death. The preacher’s hands and feet were cut off, his eyes and tongue removed, and he was burned to death. Unbeknownst to the inquisitor though, the faithful followers of Nikolas made off with his hands (though they have since lost one), and continue to gather around the remains. Miracle: Placing the hand of Nikolas on a Cainite’s forehead automatically lets her pass the next Frenzy or Rötschreck roll. Aspects: Humility, Immolation, Providing Comfort Rating: Automatically keeping the Beast at bay is powerful, even if the Hand does nothing to abate the threat that provoked it. ••• The Pacifist’s Ji Though rarely recorded or accounted for, some few Buddhists have traveled along the Silk Road and live in Europe so long as there has been a Silk Road to travel. While his name has been lost, local stories tell about a young man who traveled with merchants and acted as their protector as a priest and a warrior. He preached pacifism and spiritual purity, and carried a ji, or spear, that had never touched human blood. It is said that his spear will spare the living, slipping past them easily, and pierce only the soul’s corruption. •••• The Caul of Jos Jos was born with a caul — a sign that he would be lucky in life. His mother carefully dried the skin and sewed it into a small bag for Jos to carry. And indeed, Jos had uncommonly good fortune. He always found someone to employ him for odds and ends, or even to share food and lodgings for free, despite Jos being inept and lazy. He never contracted a disease from the myriad of lovers he had. No constable ever caught Jos, even if what little money he had came from thieving. When a famished vampire attacked Jos on the road, a local priest found him and nursed him back to health against all odds. Even after Jos took up arms against the monsters that stalked the night, he survived all conflicts — except the last, as even luck only goes so far. A local witch hunter, familiar with the tale of Jos, dug up his corpse to steal the caul. She did rebury the body so it could rest in peace — perhaps a last sign that luck remained with Jos even in the grave. Aspects: Parental Love (it was Jos’ mother who “created” the artifact to begin with), Kindness to Strangers (an aspect granted by the priest who saved Jos), Revenge, Wandering Feet Miracle: Carrying the caul grants the player to reroll all failed dice on one roll. This only works once per character though, and the caul cannot be passed on willingly — it must be stolen from its owner to work again. Rating: This item can effectively forestall final death, if the wearer isn’t tempted to use it earlier. That chance of temptation, and not being able to use it more than once (or passing it on to an ally) brings the rating down a little. ••••• The Lost Yoni In the ruins of a well-traveled and affluent Greek statesman’s home is a collection of oddities he gathered from around the world. It’s little more than a pile of rubble, and what hasn’t been stolen has been destroyed, but at least one genuine artifact remains. Built into the marble floor of what had once been a private bedroom, is a stone square sculpture from the time when Alexander conquered parts of India. In its time, a sacred woman used the statue in a temple to fight the evil that afflicts and victimizes pregnant women and mothers. Her ritual space had once been the sight of both births and demonic exorcism. She’s been forgotten, as has the stone yoni left over in this forgotten home. Though, to be honest, rumors exist. Many of the peasant women in the area know stories from their greatest grandmother’s time claiming that the strange stone statue makes the whole ruin a safe space. If you are expecting and dark forces hope to take you or your child, giving birth while touching the stone will protect you both for a lifetime. ••••• The Mercy of Ra Amarna, city of heretic-king Akhenaton, is home to many shrines. This one, sitting amidst piles of ash and bone, commands a special place in the hearts of Cainites. A vampire may come here at sunset and bring offerings of gold, incense, and blood to Ra. If the offer pleases the god, Ra grants the Cainite safety during a single sunrise. The Followers of Set have a deep and abiding resentment towards the shrine, which they feel offers the false hope of salvation — only Set, they believe, can bring peace to a vampire by encouraging him to accept his true nature. They don’t stop pilgrims to the shrine though, confident they’ll never come back and that their stories will discourage others. The Setites are only partially right. The shrine’s reputation is indeed so fearsome that most Cainites never risk it. Of those that do though, a scarce few actually return — and their stories offer more hope than the failures could ever repel. Aspects: Hope, Leap of Faith, Loneliness, Nobility, Supplication Miracle: The player rolls his character’s Courage against a difficulty of 7 to see if the character has enough faith in Ra, as it is faith rather than offerings that pleases the god. The character may take precautions in case of failure (i.e. constructing a shelter, or standing ready to use Earth Meld), but this increases the difficulty by +1. If the character takes no precautions, and truly gambles his life on Ra’s mercy, the Storyteller should consider awarding the character a dot of True Faith. Rating: To see a sunrise doesn’t offer practical benefits, but it does go directly against God’s curse. Miracles don’t come bigger than that. The potential of gaining True Faith for free is also very nice.Category:Items